We know what the Scottish Tories are against – but what are they for?

Now more than ever, it is vital that Scotland has strong voices standing up for Scotland in Westminster – but no matter what the occasion, the only thing the one-trick Tory party can talk about is independence.



Labour says the Tories have held back Britain long enough

Labour’s
Campaign Coordinators Andrew Gwynne and Ian Lavery will today unveil a
campaign poster highlighting how Britain has been held back by the
Conservatives.  

Ian Lavery will say:

“Millions of people feel they are living in a country where they
are held back from fulfilling their potential.

“They don’t feel secure in their jobs and they can’t remember the
last time they had a pay rise. Their children are struggling to learn in
crowded classrooms, and their hearts sink when they see what it
costs to rent or buy a home.

“Many who have saved and planned for their retirement find they
have to work longer because the state pension age is running away from them.

“The Tories have given tax breaks to the richest and big business,
while failing to invest in services, skills, infrastructure and the new industries
of the future.

“If the Tories are re-elected, things will only get worse. You
can’t trust the Tories with your future or with the NHS, your child’s future or
your pension.

“The Conservatives have held back Britain for too
long. Labour will build a fairer Britain for the many not the few. We can
do it together. Don’t let them hold you back.”



Garden Tigers, Gold Spangles and Burnished Brass

From the Curator of Museum Services at the University of Dundee :

Our next free talk in the D’Arcy Thompson Zoology Museum will be on Tuesday 16th May at 6pm, when Georgia Carr and David Lampard will be speaking on Garden Tigers, Gold Spangles and Burnished Brass: Digitising the Kenneth Tod Moth Collection. 

Did you know there are over 2 500 species of moths in the UK compared to 59 species of butterfly? Or that not all moths fly at night? Some moths have ears, some don’t have mouths!

Little is known about moths in Angus and Dundee yet there is a wealth of information hiding in our museum stores. The Kenneth Tod Collection at the University of Dundee holds rare, localised Alpine species which are of particular concern in times of changing climate. Learn how digitising museum collections across the county gives the global scientific community access to historical, geographic and taxonomic specimen data that can help answer our greatest ecological and conservation questions. Find out how Tod discovered new and unusual locations for the Small Dark Yellow Underwing and the Northern Dart, and how Tod’s fear of other collectors means these locations are a secret to this day.

The Angus Moth Project is an 18-month digitisation project funded by Museums Galleries Scotland. Over the course of the project three historical moth collections at the McManus, Montrose Museum and the University of Dundee have been digitised, photographed, conserved and rehoused. All data pertaining to specimens collected in Watsonian Vice County 90, the historic county of Forfarshire, has been sent to Butterfly Conservation for use in the 2018 National Moth Atlas. Data and specimens are now easily accessible to the scientific community and the wider public.

David Lampard is the Natural History Curator of Invertebrates and Geology at The McManus: Dundee’s Art Gallery & Museum. He is the Butterfly Conservation moth recorder for the County of Angus.

Georgia Carr has a background in ecological and conservation management and is the Angus Moth Project officer based at the McManus.

Admission is free but it would be very helpful if you could book a place here.

Refreshments will be served after the talk. Please enter by the main front door of the Carnelley Building. Latecomers may not be admitted.


Chinese nurse’s first aid to Japanese student goes viral

Chinese nurse's response to sick Japanese student goes viral

Chinese nurse Ren Shuangshuang. [Photo/Zhengzhou Evening News]

A post about a Chinese nurse who helped a Japanese student has gone viral on Weibo, a Twitter-like social media platform.

During a vacation in Japan, the 28-year-old nurse rushed to aid a Japanese middle-school student who was having an epileptic seizure on April 18, according to media reports.

Ren Shuangshuang works at Henan Cancer Hospital as a surgical nurse. She encountered the Japanese girl when visiting the famous tourist attraction Senso-ji.

“It was very crowded and a girl fainted,” Ren recalled. She immediately approached the girl after the translator for her tour group cried out for help. The girl was twitching and foam was coming out of her mouth. Ren immediately guessed that the girl was having an epileptic seizure.

Ren lay the girl down, unbuttoned her coat and cleaned the foam from around her mouth. She stuffed a wet tissue into the girl’s mouth to prevent her from accidentally biting her tongue. The girl eventually regained awareness and tried to sit up to thank Ren, but the nurse told her to lie back down and rest. An ambulance later arrived to transport the girl to a hospital.

Ren’s actions were recorded by other tourists and uploaded to social media. Her good deed has been widely lauded.

So far, the post has got more than 12,000 comments and nearly 200,000 thumbs-up. “Good girl! That’s what a doctor with good virtues would do. Love has no nationalities,” said one of the comments, which received more than 16,000 thumbs-up.



Some reality breaks out in the EU

It was good to hear Mr Juncker say the EU had made a mistake in briefing in the way they did about the Downing Street dinner. Just as it makes sense for the UK to be friendly and positive in its offer and dealings with the EU as we prepare to leave, so it makes sense for the EU to be the same. We, after all, are an important market for their exports, a valued partner in many collaborations, an important part of their defence and security alliance, and a frequent ally or coalition partner in international matters. We are happy for that to remain true in the future but expect reciprocal good will.

There is a clear need for strong and stable leadership in the UK to represent our interests. The UK needs to explain patiently and firmly that we will be taking back control of our laws, our money and our borders. We also need to make clear that we are making a generous offer of continuity over trade, defence, security and many other joint ventures and common workings across a wide range of areas. There are technical matters to be settled over market access, transport rights, the rights of citizens living in each other’s territories and the rest that need not be difficult to resolve if there is good will on both sides. I see no lack of good will on the UK side. That is why Mr Juncker’s recalibration of the EU response is welcome.

It is never a good idea to try to punish your main customer. I still expect reality and commonsense to break out in due course in the EU over the UK departure, as it has done over the commentary on a dinner.

Meanwhile I see the Evening Standard on line gives prominence to the fear that university research will be damaged by Brexit. Have they not heard Ministers stating clearly talented and well qualified people will be free to come to the UK. This will include faculty members, with an open door for foreign students to undertake courses at our universities.

Promoted by Fraser Mc Farland on behalf of John Redwood, both at 30 Rose Street Wokingham RG40 1XU